Blair refuses to meet mother of Iraq war victim

sundayherald: Tony Blair has declined to meet the mother of a teenage soldier killed during the Iraq war, provoking an angry reaction and condemnation from other politicians.

Blair's refusal came in a letter to Rose Gentle, whose 19-year-old son Gordon died in a roadside explosion in Basra in 2004.

He also said the government would not backdate new compensation payments to include Gentle and defended the position of denying the dead soldier a pension.

The row follows correspondence between Gentle's mother and Downing Street, and comes days after the 100th British soldier was killed in Iraq. Read more